ANZ Daffodil Day Art Auction 2015 – Participants

The New Zealanders generously taking part in the ANZ Daffodil Day Art Auction are:

Colin Mathura-Jeffree

A global personality, Colin Mathura-Jeffree has worked extensively as an international model, gracing the runways of iconic fashion houses and shooting for international fashion titles including Versace, before making the transition to television. An international actor and television presenter, Colin is best known as host of New Zealand’s Hottest Home Baker, judge on ‘New Zealand’s Next Top Model’ and guest judge on ‘America's Next Top Model’. He most recently featured on ‘Dancing with the Stars’. In charity, Colin is the first Champion for Dementia for Alzheimer’s New Zealand, helping to raise awareness across the country.

Vaughan Smith

For more than a decade Vaughan Smith has worked in radio, and is the co-host of the new ZM 'Fletch, Vaughan & Megan' breakfast show with Carl Fletcher & Megan Sellers. Together they have previously been the nation-wide #1 drive show slot for many years and are the winners of the 'Best non-breakfast show' Award at the NZ Radio Awards. Vaughan is a panellist on TVNZ comedy show 'Best Bits' and was formerly a regular panellist on the TV3 comedy show ‘7 Days’ and is infamous for his hilarious 'self-videos'. A huge social media following is testament to his passion for comedy and commitment to uncovering great music content. A Pisces, and self- proclaimed eco-geek, Vaughan loves gardening, family, travel & comedy.

Sacha McNeil

Sacha McNeil is a journalist and presenter with 15 years’ experience at TV3 and TVNZ. She grew up in radio and TV newsrooms in Hamilton and Auckland pestering her father, veteran journalist Bob McNeil, to take her out on jobs. Her own career began at TVNZ, where she spent 8 years honing her reporting and presenting skills across a number of shows including ‘One News’, ‘Tonight’, ‘Breakfast’ and TV2's ‘Flipside’. She joined her Dad at TV3 in 2007 where she has anchored many of the news shows including ‘3News’, ‘Nightline’, ‘Firstline’ and ‘Sunrise’. When she’s not working Sacha can be found indulging in her other interests including reading, writing and cooking up a storm in the kitchen. Of course all done while wrangling her little ones in whatever pursuits they are into at the time.

Urzila Carlson

South African born New Zealand citizen, comic Urzila Carlson took to the stage for the first time in 2008 and has since racked up an impressive array of awards for her stand up including ‘Best Female Comedian’ at the 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 & 2014 NZ Comedy Guild Awards and the coveted TV3 People’s Choice Award at the 2013 and 2014 New Zealand International Comedy Festival. She has made numerous TV appearances in New Zealand on shows such as ‘A Night at the Classic’, ‘The Comedy Christmas Cracker with Rhys Darby’, ‘AotearoHA!’, ‘Jono and Ben at Ten’ and of course she tames the boys as a regular panelist for TV3’s hit show ‘7 Days’, and is a regular face at comedy galas in both Australia and New Zealand.

Adrian Hailwood

Hailwood clothing has a sexy street appeal ranging from printed tees and dresses to tailored evening wear and suiting. Designer Adrian Hailwood, who studied Graphic Design at Victoria University of Wellington, began the label in August 2001. His collections are renown for their creativity and wearability each year. He uses his own fabric designs, footwear and accessories on the catwalk at what have become some of New Zealand Fashion Week’s most applauded shows. The Hailwood range is stocked throughout New Zealand, Australia, United States and United Kingdom.

Melissa McIndoe and Mary-Ellen Prendergast for Shen

Designer Mary-Ellen Prendergast was inspired by the ancient Egyptian symbol for eternal protection, the Shen Ring and founded SHEN to surround women in a realm of quality and confidence. Drawing inspiration from Asia, Europe and the USA, Mary-Ellen designs for women of strength and sophisticated femininity. Believing that “design begins with the fabric,” Mary-Ellen stamps a rare blend of quality and cheeky innovation on every SHEN design. After a career of accomplished fashion-designing for other brands, Mary-Ellen overcame life threatening breast cancer ten years ago with the desire to build her own brand. SHEN, now in its sixth season and stocked in over twenty retailers is the result of her vision.

Dion Nash

Having cut his teeth as an athletic and sometimes fiery all-rounder in the cauldron that is international cricket, Dion has made the transition into the world of business via 42Below as the Marketing Director. Dion recently founded modern apothecary & Skincare range 'Triumph & Disaster'.

Karena and Kasey Bird

Karena and Kasey Bird are sisters from the small coastal village of Maketu in the beautiful Bay of Plenty. They come from a tight-knit family and actually all live next door to each other, sharing dinner together most nights of the week. While growing up in their little slice of paradise they always ate well with the people they loved. They have always loved eating but it wasn't until they both moved away to big cities, Karena (25) to Wellington, Kasey (23) to Melbourne that they really understood how deep their love of food went. When they both returned to Maketu, it was by chance that they entered Masterchef New Zealand and started on a new adventure. Winning the world's first ever Masterchef Duos competition was an incredible experience for the pair, who currently tour the country taking part in cooking demonstrations at food shows, promote their best-selling book and in their spare time continue to work on developing delicious recipes.

Eric Young

Eric Young has been the presenter of Prime News for almost a decade, having somehow survived more than 25 years in television in this country, Australia and Singapore. His journalism career took him through radio and newspapers in 1980s Auckland, before joining TV3 in time for its 1989 launch. What followed has been more than a quarter of a century of (mostly) successfully flying under the radar with ESPN, Sky News Australia, TVNZ and Sky TV. He has covered several Olympic Games', Commonwealth Games' and World Cups and edited award-winning magazines Sky Sport: The Magazine and Player. For the past three years he has hosted Sky Sport's annual Halberg Awards, and is a former Sports Broadcaster of the Year, Sports Writer of the Year, Sports Columnist of the Year and Sports Feature Writer of the Year. Eric’s sister Jo died from metastatic breast cancer in 2004.

Sir Bob Harvey

Sir Robert "Bob" Harvey KNZM QSO is the former mayor of Waitakere City. He received the New Zealand Medal for Community Service in 1990 and was awarded honorary citizenship of Waitakere Sister City Ningbo, People's Republic of China in 2005. He was knighted as a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the 2013 New Year’s Honours list. Harvey was a founder of one of the country's larger advertising agencies, MacHarman Ayer, for whom he worked from 1962 to 1992. Prior to becoming mayor, Harvey served as Deputy Chairman of the New Zealand Film Commission and was chairman of the 1990 Commonwealth Games Arts Festival. A life member of the New Zealand Labour Party, Harvey served as President from 1999 to 2000. Having just announced in June of this year that he is the new ambassador for the Auckland Super City, Harvey was most recently the chair of the Board of Directors for Waterfront Auckland.

Karla Goodwin (Bluebells Cakery)

Karla Goodwin is the talented baker behind Bluebells Cakery. She perfected her craft while living in London where she worked in one of the UK’s most prestigious cupcake bakeries, Primrose Bakery. Since returning to New Zealand in 2011, Karla set up Bluebells Cakery and began by selling cupcakes and other baked goods at Auckland’s boutique French market, La Cigale. Now Karla bakes and sells from her vintage-styled Hillsborough Rd shop. Her delightful, traditional recipes and eye for beautiful cake styling and decoration have earned her a reputation amongst Auckland food stylists, the media and those in the know.

Suzanne Paul

Suzanne Paul is a popular television presenter, a successful business woman and a sought after motivational speaker. She’s written a number one best-selling book called, ‘But Wait There’s More!’ and last year also became a stand-up comedian. In 2007 she won ‘Dancing With The Stars’ with Stefano Olivieri as her partner.

Michael Meredith

Chef Michael Meredith grew up in Samoa watching his mother cook for her pancake stall in the local Apia market. He still credits his mother and Samoan upbringing for laying a foundation for his no-waste culinary philosophy of today. Having moved to New Zealand when he was 16, he was introduced to the culinary arts and, at the age of 19, he enrolled at Auckland University of Technology on scholarship where his passion for food and cooking was born. Now Michael is one of Auckland’s most successful restaurateurs. Motivated by his Aunty’s blindness, he’s also a philanthropist, and regularly hosts ‘dine by donation’ evenings, where his customers pay what they feel their meal is worth, with the proceeds going to charity.

P-Money

P-Money (Peter Wadams), the Papakura born DJ and Record Producer, is an iconic figure of the New Zealand music scene. P-Money’s musical pedigree is certified with a string of number one hits and platinum selling albums to his credit. A true ambassador of NZ Music he co-wrote and produced five of the biggest New Zealand singles of the past decade; ‘Not Many’, ‘Stand Up’, and ‘Stop The Music ft Scribe’, ‘Keep On Callin ft Akon’ and ‘Everything ft Vince Harder’”. The latter of which broke through to UK airwaves on BBC1 and was dubbed Zane Lowe’s Hottest Record in the World.

As a teenager P-Money poured endless hours into his craft of DJing, a discipline that would see him compete in numerous DJ Battles worldwide and culminate in a third place prize at the DMC World DJ Championship (a Bronze Medal in the Olympics of the DJ World!). He and business partner Callum August founded independent record label Dirty Records in 2001, launching the careers of local rap superstars Scribe, David Dallas and PNC. High accolades range from picking up the 1999 New Zealand ITF DJ Battle National Champion through to being a Best Urban Album Finalist for 'Gratitude' at the 2013 RIANZ New Zealand Music Awards.

Rt. Hon John Key, Prime Minister

Prime Minister John Key has been the Prime Minister of New Zealand since November 2008 and Leader of the New Zealand National Party since November 2006. He was born in Auckland but moved to Christchurch when he was a child. He was educated at Burnside High School in Christchurch and then gained a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Canterbury. Mr Key launched his investment banking career in New Zealand in the mid-1980s. After 10 years in the New Zealand market he headed offshore, working in Singapore, London, and Sydney for US investment banking firm Merrill Lynch. In 2014, Mr Key led the National Party to its third consecutive election victory. He is currently the Prime Minister of the National-led Government as well as Minister of Tourism. Mr Key is married to Bronagh and has two children – Stephie and Max. When he has some spare time, he likes to spend it with his family, cooking, playing golf, and watching rugby.

Lydia Ko

Currently ranked #2 in the world, 17-year-old Lydia Ko was born in South Korea and started playing golf at age 5. At age 6 she moved to New Zealand with her family. In October 2013 Lydia turned professional and two months later, won her first event as a pro at the Swinging Skirts World Ladies Masters on the Korean Ladies Professional Golf Association Tour (KLPGA). She also earned her second-career victory when she defeated her title at the CN Canadian Women’s Open.

Lydia became the No.1 ranked woman professional golfer on 2 February 2015 at the age of 17, making her the youngest player of either gender to be ranked No.1 in professional golf.

Sam Webster

Born in Auckland, Sam burst onto the New Zealand cycling scene in 2007, claiming four national titles and two national records in the Under 17 Age Group. Sam was the NZ Flag Bearer at the 2009 Youth Olympic Festival in Sydney, and won silver in the Team Sprint and gold in the Men’s Sprint with a new Youth Olympic record. At the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games Sam won silver in the Team Sprint and bronze in the Sprint. In 2014 at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games, Sam won gold in the Team Sprint and silver in the Keirin. Outside of his extremely busy training schedule, Sam is currently studying towards a Business Degree.

Rebecca Dubber

Rebecca Dubber is a Paralympian swimmer on the road to the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games. Since the London 2012 games the twenty-two-year-old has battled injuries which saw her miss the entire 2013 season. She pushed through to make a comeback last year where she won the 100m backstroke at the Para-Swimming Pan Pacific Championships. This year she competed at the IPC Swimming World Championships where she won two silver medals and posted three personal best times for her events. She now has her sights set firmly on the Rio games. Rebecca has been swimming competitively for over ten years and when she’s not in the pool she’s studying communications at AUT with the intention of majoring in public relations or radio.

Andrew Little, Leader of the Opposition

Andrew Little was elected to Parliament in 2011, and elected Leader of the Labour Party in November 2014. Born in New Plymouth and educated at New Plymouth Boys’ High School, he studied philosophy, law, and public policy at Victoria University. His first job was as a solicitor for the Engineers Union (later EPMU), working on employment law and ACC issues. He became National Secretary of the EPMU in 2000. He was elected President of the Labour party in 2009 and has served on the boards of VUW, TEC, and WITT (Taranaki Polytechnic). Andrew and his wife Leigh, and son Cam, live in Wellington’s Island Bay with their cat and dog Buddy and Harry. He’s a keen mountain-biker, kayaker and golfer.

Robbie and Nicole Rakete

Nicole Rakete completed her Diploma of Teaching and Bachelor of Education in 1996. She worked for 6 years at Awatapu College n Palmerston North as a Visual Art teacher, Head of Department and year 9 dean. After the birth of her two children Finn and Paige she, spent 10 years out of the classroom, focussing on them and exploring her ideas and feelings about the world through paint and photography. Nicole married Robert Rakete in 2010 and moved to Auckland where they now have a blended family of 5. She went back to teaching as the Visual Art specialist at Auckland Normal Intermediate in 2012. It was in her first year living in Auckland she was diagnosed with a physically debilitating disease; Rheumatoid Arthritis, which at times has impacted her ability to hold the tools required for painting and photography. It is this life changing diagnosis that has given Nicole a deepened sense of personal satisfaction and gratitude each time her body allows her to complete an art work.

Laura McGoldrick

Laura McGoldrick is a presenter for Sky Sport; she hosts ‘Holden Golf World’ and ‘Sky Sport Select’. Laura also hosts ‘The Cricket Show’ - which is where she met her husband New Zealand Cricketer Martin Guptill. Confident in front of the camera, Laura is also developing her skills on radio, she hosts ‘The Hauraki Breakfast’ with Jeremy Wells and Matt Heath. Laura also loves to MC events which range from the ANZ Cancer Society Gala Dinner to The Opening Ceremony of the Cricket World Cup 2015.

Toni Street

Television presenter and mum of two Toni Street hails from Taranaki. Having attended New Plymouth Girls' High School, Toni then went on to attend Lincoln University on a sports scholarship. Toni initially joined Television New Zealand (TVNZ) in 2006 on a six-month internship, before taking on a full-time sports reporting role for the ANZ Championship and later the Summer Olympics in Beijing.

Following stints as a head sports reporter and substitute presenter for the sports bulletin, Toni then moved into a co-presenter role on Saturday Breakfast alongside Rawdon Christie and later alongside Tamati Coffey. She was also a backup presenter for the weekday Breakfast, before moving into the permanent role in 2013. A year later she joined and Mike Hosking on the Seven Sharp panel.

Grace Palmer

Having grown up in entertainment it was only natural that Grace followed her parents, Jason Gunn and Janine Morrell-Gunn, into the industry. After training in both NZ and Australia Grace has enjoyed a prosperous career most recently gracing the nightly television as character Lucy Rickman on ‘Shortland Street’.

Post-Graffiti Pacific Artists (courtesy of Olivia Laita Gallery)

Benjamin Work

As a person of mixed Scottish and Tongan ancestry, Benjamin struggled to find a sense of belonging and gravitated towards the pop-cultural influences emanating from Los Angeles in the 1990s, such as skate, fashion, gang and graffiti culture. Today, Benjamin's journey to learn more about his Tongan ancestry, has led him to discover images of antique Tongan weapons, finely carved with often overlooked symbols of warriors and royalty. These key figures in motion, form the majority of Benjamin's works with strength and power and occasionally, the Lupe, a pacific bird of peace, features in his works. He continues to explore the power of kula (red) and uli (black) and their connections to titles, Christian beliefs and youth gangs in Tongan thinking and practice.

Berst

Instilled with the working-class ethics of his Chinese family, Berst has applied his full energy and dedication into his passions, education and the evolution of graffiti letter styles. After completing a Masters Degree in Education in 2014, his attention to his students and himself as an Urban Contemporary artist, have organically become a new lease on life. Incorporating both his worlds into his innovative and current teaching programs for tertiary institution Unitec, his outreach amongst students and youth have made him highly popular. As an immigrant to New Zealand as a child, Berst's current post-graffiti works explore the commonalities of Chinese and Maori mythologies using bold and intense illustrations and symbolisms.

Gary Silipa

Gary Silipa was born in Auckland in 1982. His parents migrated to New Zealand from Samoa in the early 1980's with his older siblings. Their aim to relocate from the small tropical island in the South Pacific to a significantly larger urban society meant that Gary was born into an environment where ancestral and native culture were disjointed. It is this displacement that would inform Gary's visual aesthetic and set the scene for the themes that he explores through his art.

Misery

Based out of Auckland, New Zealand, Misery's natural flair for art runs four generations deep. Known more for her character based works that are fun and magical but sprinkled with a touch of dark humor, her first outdoor works were graffiti-based, whereby her name Misery, was gifted to her by Askew One in 1997. Misery's growth of her characters and worlds, which all live in 'Miseryland' (strongly influenced by both her personal Asian and Pacific art experiences) has made her an individual stronghold amongst her loyal and forever growing followers. Internationally renowned, she is one of the Pacific region’s most well-known female urban contemporary artists to date.

Elliot Francis Stewart

Initially garnering a reputation as one of the best graffiti character writers in the world, Stewart’s transition into comic-style cartoons and elaborate illustrations came naturally and with ease. His ability to interpret any concept put in front of him with his signature style has quickly made him one of the most in-demand local post-graffiti artists in New Zealand. This analogue guy living in a digital world has yet to share his rare talent consistently with the world but in 2015, equipped with a brand new passport, this is set to change.

Route 52

In the mid-1990's as a teenager, Brendan Kitto aka Route52 expanded from the activities of skating and graffiti to also documenting what he perceived as important youth culture. With age, this concept was further refined. His need to document process and happenings, capturing a time and place, became his point of difference in graffiti documentation, since most people at the time would only photograph the final result. This patience to capture THE shot in urban popular culture and fashion, has enabled him to exhibit his photos in both group and solo shows. With respect to the past and moving forward with the future, Route52 embraces medium format, 35mm and digital photography, with his own in-house black & white development dark room.

Askew One

With a strong self-taught background in graffiti, graphic design and video-making, Askew One's geographical isolation being based out of Auckland, New Zealand, hasn't held him back from showcasing his work to the world. His consistency with his internet web presence over the last 12 years has made him world renowned and he is now considered to be one of the leading figures of graffiti and urban contemporary art from the Pacific region. The end result of his urban contemporary works is the product of his innovative process, which uses his skills in photography, graphic design, graffiti and traditional painting. By capturing his audience with visually complex and pleasing paintings, he is able to bring a greater story to the viewer’s attention.